i recently bought a winchester 94 legendary frontiersman in 38-55. the previous owner used it for a truck gun and there was a decent amount of rust inside and the brass was worn off the receiver and it was disassembled and pieces were lost. i have it all back together but when i work the action the hammer won't stay back, i can get it to stay back if i open the action turn it upside down and shake it. i have been throwing parts at it but nothing seems to be working any ideas? also the lever has to be squeezed to depress the trigger stop spring. is it possible the lever is bent?

Perhaps the hammer stirrup has disengaged the hammer spring...if the hammer spring is indeed attached to the tang.

The finger lever should snug up to depress the trigger safety catch.

ok from what i can see the hammer stirrup was not used with the coil type hammer spring like my gun.
the lever does not touch the tang unless i pull it up and hold it.
thanks

Hmmmmmmm...OK....I was comparing to my 1928 SRC which has a flat hammer spring. Did not realize the coil was used in pre 64s. The finger lever on my SRC must be held up against the trigger safety button to fire.

figured it out turns out when i bought it the trigger stop spring was installed incorrectly and it also is supposed to push the sear up to the hammer. thanks for the help.